Reactions To Manfred’s Election As Commissioner

Rob Manfred emerged yesterday as Major League Baseball’s next Commissioner, ultimately winning a unanimous election from the game’s owners after a minority group had initially gathered enough votes to stall Manfred’s victory. As Bob Nightengale of USA Today writes, the participants in the day’s proceedings emerged with a positive tone. “While Rob may not have been my initial choice for commissioner, the conclusion of a very good process was to name Rob as the person best positioned to help baseball endure and grow even stronger for the next generation of fans,” said White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, said to have led the opposition. “Everyone wants baseball to flourish. Today’s decision was reached by 30 owners voting separately but speaking, in the end, with one voice.”

Manfred says he has a clear mandate on the game’s modernization, pointing to “a huge amount of consensus” in that area. Labor may prove a trickier field to navigate, though Manfred certainly has unmatched experience dealing with the MLB Player’s Association — which, in part, may have explained some of the resistance to his assumption of the Commissioner’s chair. “The biggest thing is always labor peace,” said Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner. “That’s never going to change. These things come around every few years and there’s a lot at stake.”

The relationship between Manfred and recently-elevated MLBPA executive director Tony Clark appears to be solid, writes Jon Morosi of FOX Sports, who says that bodes well for the future. Many of the things that Manfred will hope to accomplish will require cooperation from the players, of course.

The new Commissioner-elect will indeed have many priorities to tick through, many of which Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca lists. Some relate to a theme that many have stressed in recent days: improving the game’s appeal to younger fans. Thorny player contract and competitive issues may also be on the table, with plenty of attention falling on service-time considerations in prospect promotions as well as the function of the qualifying offer system.

Earlier today, MLBTR’s Steve Adams asked readers to assess whether Manfred was the right choice. A plurality (and near-majority) concurred with the league’s owners, with nearly 30% of respondents saying that an alternative direction should have been pursued rather than Manfred and the other two finalists for the position.

Speeding up the game would be nice. Make a rule that pitchers have to pitch to at least two batters to get rid of the absurd LOOGY slowdown, limit time pitchers take between pitchers and batter step-outs

I don’t mind the LOOGY’s. They’re no different than a platoon on offense and is a strategic part of the game. Batters stepping out between every pitch and adjusting their batting gloves should definitely be eliminated. How about a rule that you can’t throw to first (or any base with a runner) more than once per AB?

What a boon that would be for base-runners. And I think you’d get less of the batters backing out of the box between pitches if the pitchers weren’t given essentially an unlimited amount of time to deliver a pitch.

Speeding up the game would be a nice goal, but unfortunately they are going in the opposite direction with the official reviews. Even plays that aren’t reviewed stop the game while the review request decision is being made by the managers. That entire process needs to be tightened up. I would like to see a limit on the amount of time the pitcher can hold onto the ball between pitches.

Want to improve the game for younger fans? On a full slate of games, have only 13 out of 15 games start no later than 4 pm eastern. Having only one or 2 night games makes those games special. West coast type( 10:35 pm eastern)starts should be limited to weekend series. Baseball plays about 5000 games between all ballclubs, no reason why 500 of those can’t be morning am starts.